Croatia Rally – The C3s dominate the WRC2, Gryazin ahead of Rossel

From the morning loop, a trend was established in WRC2. The Citroën C3s in front and the other Rally2s behind. To be even more precise, it was even Nikolay Gryazin in the lead and the pack of pursuers trying to follow. The driver who now flies under the Bulgarian flag immediately took over the leadership position. Author of almost all the best times, he gradually widened the gap, notably hitting two big blows on the 23,63 km of Krasic-Sosice (SS1-8), the longest special of the rally. After the 10'' recorded in the morning during the first pass, Nikolay did it again in the afternoon (12''9). His performance was all the more telling as his performances were ahead of Yohan Rossel who has excellent references in Croatia with two consecutive victories in WRC2. With a 31'' lead, Gryazin is well on his way to managing the rest of the rally, even if he will have to be wary of the rainy conditions.

Starting immediately after Rally1, Yohan Rossel only managed to get ahead of his teammate on SS3. In the other sections, the Gardois was not very satisfied with his mount. “ I constantly felt like I didn't have the right tires., he explained at the end of the day. Nikolay had a great stage. I didn't have great feelings with the car and we also had two great heats. Tomorrow the weather could be very eventful. We are not giving up and we will continue to put pressure on him and we will see. »

Discovering the field, Pepe Lopez was not able to repeat his performance from Monte-Carlo where he fought for victory. The Spaniard, however, was the most consistent behind the Citroëns. A hit against a rail made him lose contact and he is now 1'31'' behind Rossel. The Skoda driver will have to be wary of Nicolas Ciamin and Lauri Joona.

For the Frenchman, the day did not meet all his hopes. A poor choice of tires in the morning initially delayed him and the gaps continued to grow during the 2^e passage. If he counted on the engine development announced on his i20 to make up for the lack of performance of his Hyundai against his opponents, this did not really materialize in the special stages. With Lopez only 20'' ahead of him, the 26-year-old driver can still claim the podium, especially as the second stage promises to be tricky.

On Saturday, the Croatia Rally will offer 8 stages and 108,76 km timed.

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